


Dire: Friends' Approval

by LeoArcana



Series: Dire 'verse [6]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Bonding, M/M, Pool & Billiards, Skinwalker Dean
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-14
Updated: 2016-08-14
Packaged: 2018-08-08 20:12:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7771555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeoArcana/pseuds/LeoArcana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jo feels like her and Castiel should hang out more, they've spent next to no time together outside work.  He's a little hesitant to do so, but she offers to invite Dean as well.  Then he thinks it'd be good for the both of them to get out of the house and socialize a bit.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dire: Friends' Approval

“Hey, I got a question.”

Jo leaned forward on her elbows on the bar.

“I may have an answer,” Castiel sighed.

“How come we don’t ever hang out?  Outside of work, I mean.”

“We have.  I took you snowboarding.”

“We didn’t hang out then and you know it,” Jo deadpanned, “But seriously, how come?”

“I don’t know,” Castiel shrugged, “I would assume you could find more interesting people to hang out with.”

“Friends are hard to come by.”

“Are you insinuating we aren’t friends?  Because that would be your answer,” Castiel smiled.

Jo pouted and hit him lightly in the arm.

“C’mon, we should go do something.  You can bring Dean,” Jo added hopefully, “I barely met him.”

It would be nice to get out and socialize a bit more, and it would be especially good for Dean.  He really didn’t have anyone to talk to anymore besides Castiel.  Every once in a while he might steal Castiel’s phone and call Sam, but he needed more than that. 

Castiel also asked her what it was she thought they should do.  Jo started rattling off different ideas, just trying to get an idea of something Castiel might like to do or see if something sounded like what Dean might like.  Castiel made a face and dismissed any idea involving large crowds.  Dean still didn’t like being around so many, even less so now, and Castiel just simply didn’t feel like being in crowded places.  When Jo picked up on that, she started suggesting more relaxed ideas and Castiel offered a few in return.  He didn’t know many of Jo’s interests, aside from snowboarding, and Dean’s interests were fairly basic.  Though he had learned more recently that Dean did enjoy some older movies that would’ve fit right in with when he was growing up.

They hadn’t reached an agreement by the end of Castiel’s shift, but he told her he’d ask Dean if he even wanted to go and from that, Jo got the feeling that if he said no, Castiel would change his mind.  She rolled her eyes with a smirk and responded with a light comment about him being whipped.  He threw a bar mop at her and went around the bar to clean one of the recently emptied tables.  He wondered, if Dean agreed, what they would actually end up doing.  Maybe Dean would have some kind of miracle answer.

As it turned out, he didn’t.  If anything, he seemed apprehensive about the whole idea.  His last interaction with the pack at Yellowstone had set the tone for socializing now.  Castiel spent more time trying to reassure him there would be very many people and they didn’t have to be out for very long than he did actually trying to think of ideas.  He promised him it would be fine, nothing would happen, no one knew of what had happened or what he was.  It would be no different than Jo simply trying to make friends with him, and better friends with Castiel, the same as she would do with anyone.  Dean reluctantly agreed to go on the promise it wouldn’t be more than two hours.  Castiel gladly agreed to it and texted Jo shortly after.

Dean was a little quieter than normal for the rest of the night and held Castiel a little tighter as they slept that night.

In the morning, Castiel had a text from Jo.  She had said if he wanted, they could just hang out at the Roadhouse.  It was a Tuesday and more recently Ellen had decided to close a little earlier on weekdays to save costs.  He responded that would work out perfectly and told Dean there would essentially be no one there; save for Ash, who slept there half the time.  Dean relaxed at that and seemed a bit happier at the prospect.

That day, Castiel had to work all day again.  They’d come up with the plan of Dean getting as close to town as he could, bringing a change of clothes with him, and then shift and walk the rest of the way to the Roadhouse.  Without the cover of night, it would be far too much of a risk for him to go all the way to the Roadhouse.  The other option had been for Castiel to come home and get him, then go back, but that was a waste of gas. 

Castiel’s shift went smoothly, though he was a bit nervous about how hanging out would go.  He was more concerned for the awkwardness than anything else.  As it came close to the end of his shift, he kept checking outside the windows for Dean.  Jo and Ash took notice and asked what he was looking for, he told them and let it slip that Dean was walking.  They both stared at him blankly for a second and asked how far away it was that he lived.  Castiel answered sheepishly; Ash whistled and Jo smacked him on the arm and started going off on him.  In the midst of her rant, which reminded Castiel of Ellen, he caught a glimpse of Dean outside the window just before he walked in.

Jo didn’t immediately notice Dean, she stood with her back to the door as she continued lecturing Castiel on being a good— or at least decent— boyfriend.  But Ash saw him and scrunched up his face in confusion.

“You don’t look too tired for walkin’ all that way, man,” Ash commented.

“’m not.  Not that far,” Dean mumbled.

“Not that far?” Ash repeated, “Dude, it’s like twenty miles.  Did you start walking at the crack of dawn?”

“No, I ran, um—“

“No way you ran—“

“He’s being sarcastic,” Castiel interrupted, “He probably could run it though, he does marathons quite often.”

“Oh, well, why didn’t you just say that, man?” Ash asked, “I feel kinda bad for gettin’ on you now.”

“I didn’t get the chance to,” Castiel shrugged, “So, Jo, since this was your idea, what we planning to do?”

“I dunno, I didn’t think about it too much,” Jo admitted, “I mean, we could just hang out, have a few drinks, or play pool or something…”

Castiel sighed and began to worry the night was going to turn out as awkward as he feared.  Maybe worse if they couldn’t even get anything going.

“How ‘bout we turn the music back on first?” Ash suggested.

“I say Dean should get to pick the music first,” Jo volunteered.

Ash turned to Dean expectantly.

Castiel squinted his eyes and gave Jo a quick dirty look before looking at Dean.  He didn’t know if Dean knew of any artists or songs in particular, he just always listened to whatever Castiel had on.  He would hum along or mumble the words to some songs as best he could, but he never took enough interest to ask what the song was or who—

“Met-allica,” Dean answered.

Castiel’s jaw dropped slightly.  There hadn’t been any hesitation and he sounded so sure of his choice.

Ash grinned proudly, nodding his head with an exaggerated _yeah_.  He disappeared off to the back to switch the radio back on and set it to play _Metallica._   The radio started up on the previous song, popped as Ash switched it, and a surprisingly gentle acoustic guitar came on with a soothing melody.  Another guitar joined it and Dean began tapping the fingers of his right hand to the melody of the first; the fingers of his left hand tapping to the second guitar.

“You know this song?” Castiel asked.

“Mmhmm.  _Battery_ was first song heard,” Dean smiled.

A third guitar blasted suddenly with the aggression Castiel had expected.

“Good intro to ‘em,” Ash approved, “I got suckered in with _Creeping Death_.”

“Good song,” Dean agreed, “Liked that alb-bum.”

“Well yeah, I mean Dave was still in the band.”

Dean narrowed his eyes at Ash.

“Don’t tell me you take sides,” Ash warned.

“Metallica j-just as good without h-him,” Dean said, “Not like Megadeth as much.  Still good, not as good.”

“You’re tryin’ to be diplomatic, aren’t you?”

Dean cocked his head, unsure of what ‘diplomatic’ meant, and glanced at Castiel for a quick explanation.  He told him the meaning of the word and Dean nodded in understanding, then turned back to Ash, insisting he wasn’t just trying to be diplomatic.  The two of them fell into a discussion about Dave Mustaine and whether or not he should’ve been kicked out of Metallica as the song carried on with more ferocity as the vocals came in.

“Do you know what they’re talking about?” Jo asked.

“Not really.  Metal isn’t my genre, much less any drama that may happen with it,” Castiel shrugged.

“Well they’re getting more into it…” Jo hummed, “Why don’t we start a game of pool?”

“I haven’t played in a while,” Castiel admitted.

“That’s what people say right before they do something amazing,” Jo groaned.

Castiel shook his head with a light laugh.  He’d only played a few times, but never enough to actually get good at it.  He let Jo rack up the balls and Dean took interest in their loud clacking, but didn’t deviate from his discussion with Ash.  Jo handed him a cue and told him to break.  He took it from her and leaned forward, intent on striking the white ball dead on; he glanced off it and sent rolling weakly.  The cue ball gently broke apart the rest and sent them rolling lazily without a single one reaching a pocket.

Jo snickered and picked up her own cue.  She struck the ball more directly and sunk a striped ball.  She walked around the corner of the table and struck again, this time sending a ball to crush Dean’s finger at the edge of the table.  He yelped and recoiled, throwing an offended look to Jo and a hurt one to Castiel; Castiel shook his head and rolled his eyes, Dean dropped it to a scowl. 

Dean paid a little more attention to the game, mostly for the sake of his own hands, as he and Ash moved on to talking about various other hair metal bands.  Castiel listened to them talk, more intrigued by Dean’s speech improving as he relaxed than he was about what they were talking about.  Eventually Dean found the game to be more interesting and snagged Castiel’s cue stick from him when he came close again.  He held it flat in both hands, feeling the weighted end and running a curious thumb over the blue stained tip.

“Just hit white ball?” Dean asked.

“Yeah, but you wanna knock it into the others in a way that’ll make certain ones fall in the pockets,” Jo answered.

Dean frowned at the stick and eyed the cue ball.

“What ones?”

“If you’re gonna partner with Castiel, you guys are trying to get the solid color ones in.”

“But not the black one,” Castiel added quickly, “Not yet.”

“Why?”

“It has to be the last one, otherwise you lose.”

Dean hummed and stood upright, turning to the table and leaning forward with the stick the same way Castiel had.  Jo grinned and nudged Castiel with her elbow, flicking her eyes back at Dean.  He pretended not to notice Jo had done it, but as soon as she pouted and looked away, he allowed himself a small, fond smile; which broke into a wide grin and snort as Dean missed and scrapped the green felt.

Dean growled to himself in annoyance, but loud enough for Jo and Ash to hear the inhuman sound.  Both of them stalled and gave each other wary looks.  Castiel moved around quickly and took Dean’s hands to steady his aim and distract Jo and Ash.  If he was lucky, they’d think they were just hearing things.  He moved Dean’s hands a little before telling him to try again.  This time he managed to strike the cue ball and knock a few others around.         

“No, no, wait a second,” Jo piped up, “You don’t get another turn off that!”

“Yeah, you do,” Ash corrected.

“No, you don’t get a second try off scratches.”

“Yeah, but that wasn’t a scratch.  It was just a miss.”

“No, it was a scratch.”

“Scratch is when you hit the cue ball and sink it,” Castiel corrected.

“Since when?”

“Always…?”

“Seriously?  My mom said scratch was when you miss and hit the table, ‘cause you scratch the felt.”

“You’re mom lied to you,” Ash laughed.

“What the hell!”

Jo thrust her cue stick at Ash and stormed off towards Ellen’s office in the back.

“So…was okay try again?”

“Yes, it was fine,” Castiel laughed, “But with Jo gone, I suppose it’s Ash’s turn now.”

“Alright, prepare to get schooled.”

Dean leaned over and whispered to Castiel, asking what that meant.  Castiel answered him as Ash jabbed at the ball and did nothing more than glance off and spin it in place.     

“Not schooled,” Dean commented.

“I’m just warmin’ up,” Ash defended.

Ash took another turn and knocked several balls around, two of them settling on the edge of a pocket.  Castiel went after and sank one of them.  As he handed the stick to Dean, Jo came stalking back with her mother on tow.

“Alright, it’s not my fault for thinking misses were scratches,” Jo declared, “Tell them.”

Ellen sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Joanna here got confused—“

“Did not.”

“Yes, you did, young lady.  Joanna got confused because when she was little and trying to play, she kept actually scratching the felt when she missed,” Ellen clarified.

“So, you thought your mom was just tellin’ you to stop sucking?” Ash ventured.

Dean snorted and stifled a laugh.

“Hey, it wasn’t my fault,” Jo huffed.

“Of course not,” Castiel agreed, “Working in a bar with pool tables, you never would’ve been corrected.”

“Thought you would’ve been on my side,” Jo grumbled.

“Don’t worry, we still like ya,” Ash said.

“I hate you guys.”

Jo snatched the cue stick from Dean, surprising him for a second, and lined it up with the white ball.  She jabbed the stick forward, intent on knocking the ball perfectly into two others to sink them both; she missed completely.

“You scratched,” Dean noted.

Ellen gave a bark of laughter along with Ash, who held his hand up for a high five.  Dean met him with a little more force than needed, but nothing to actually hurt Ash’s hand.

“I hate you guys,” Jo repeated.

She leaned forward again to try once more, this time hitting a cue ball and moving a few others.  Dean pointedly took the stick back from Jo and likewise moved only a few things around.

They settled into taking turns, one of them every now and then making a little joke at Jo’s expense for scratching.  After a few jokes, she started throwing comebacks at them.  Ash mocked offense, Castiel played them off and Dean tried to throw one back.  However, most of his comebacks at her were hers recycled.  She teased him a bit for that, making him huff and grumble, and Castiel rolled his eyes, mumbling that he still loved him.

The game carried on for another twenty minutes before only the eight ball was left.  All of them had a try at it, but no one sank it.  They all went again and it was Castiel who managed to knock it into a pocket; but not the one he’d called.

Dean casually challenged them to another game and Jo was more than happy to accept it.  While the balls were being gathered and racked up, Ash offered to grab a few drinks.  Ellen would be fine with it, Jo assured, it wasn’t like the four of them would be able to really put a dent in the stock.

Dean and Castiel had won that game of pool, but because technically Jo and Ash had won the previous, they had to play a third to break the tie.  Between the need to win and the drinks, the game was more intense than before.  Jo threw her hands up dramatically when Ash missed the eight ball, Dean curled his fingers at the at the table with a frustrated growl when Castiel missed.  When Jo missed, Ash whined.  When Dean missed, Castiel dropped his head on Dean’s shoulder.  All four of them went two more times, all complaining about how stubborn the ball was being, until Dean was lucky enough to strike it into the pocket he called.

Jo stamped her foot in defeat as both Dean and Castiel cheered in celebration.  Ash ran his hand down his face and turned to lean back on the edge of the table before laying down on his back on it.  Jo made some comment about Ellen having told him before to stop using the table like a bed. 

Despite the excitement of winning, Castiel felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him at the mention of a bed and tried to resist yawning.

“Tired?” Dean asked.

“A little, someone of us don’t get to sleep til noon.”

Dean scowled lightly at him, a quip on the tip of his tongue as he opened his mouth, but then thought better of it. 

“Want go home then?”

Castiel nodded with another yawn.  He pushed himself up, mumbling goodbyes to Ash, Jo and Ellen.  Dean threw a wave and smile over his shoulder at them as he followed Castiel out.

Jo nondescriptly slinked closer to the window and watched them get in the car.  She smiled as she saw Castiel lean over to kiss Dean on the cheek and covered his mouth as she saw Dean duck his head, no doubt to hide a grin of his own.

“Well, that guy gets the seal of approval,” Ash stated.

“You just like him because he’s the first person to like the same music as you,” Jo teased, “I think he’s good for Castiel.  They’re cute together.”

**Author's Note:**

> i spent 5ever writing this because i kept getting distracted i'm so sorry  
> prompt: fic prompt(s): dire!verse, what do ash/jo/ellen etc think of Dean? Also, how's Sam/Jess doing out in California? I think Dean and Cas should visit them! Please and thank you!  
> since someone else had mentioned in a multi-prompt thing that they wanted dean and cas visiting sam and jess, that'll be the next one i do  
> [want a fic request?](http://leo-arcana.tumblr.com/ask)


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